Fluids, such as wastewater, may be treated to protect the environment and public health. Fluids to be treated may include pollutants and microorganisms that are each detrimental to the environment as well as detrimental to people, wildlife, and the flora and fauna within the environment.
Contaminated fluid is treated to render the fluid more suitable for subsequent use or discharge. Treatment can include separating, modifying, removing, and destroying objectionable, hazardous, or pathogenic substances in the fluid. To this end, treatment serves to remove unwanted materials with little or no affect on the fluid composition itself. For example, if the fluid is water, the molecular structure of the water remains unchanged after treatment.
Various phases of contaminated fluid treatment are employed to address various contaminants and the unique treatment circumstances presented by each. In the end, the goals can include removal or reduction of the levels of the impurities, contaminants, and solids from the contaminated fluid in order to collect, handle, and dispose of the fluid safely, or with reduced harm to humans or the environment.
Various discharge standards and quality standards apply when testing effluent safety and treatment effectiveness of fluids. For organic wastewater applicable standards can measure turbidity (suspended solids), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), coliform organisms, pH, remaining heavy metals, remaining chemical compounds, and remaining organic compounds.